This inspiring artist and filmmaker is considered a founder
and a major figure of the pop art movement. Born in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1928, Andy Warhol graduated from
the Carnegie Institute of Technology before moving to New
York. His first big break was in August 1949 when Glamour
Magazine asked him to illustrate an article called "Success
is a Job in New York". Although born Andrew Warhola, he
dropped the 'a' in his last name when the credit mistakenly
read "Drawings by Andy Warhol."

By 1955 Andy Warhol had almost all of New York copying his
work. He was well known for creating ink images with slight
color changes. Andy Warhol was into doing popular items like
Coca-Cola bottles and celebrities faces, like Marilyn Monroe.
His Campbell's Soup Can is a classic and an easily
recognized work of Andy's. In the 1960s, Andy Warhol also made
a series of films about time, boredom and repetition like
Empire and The Chelsea

irls which are now underground classics.

Andy Warhol had the privilege of working with the rock band
The Velvet Underground in 1965. He traveled around the
country, not only with The Velvets, but also with 1965
superstar Edie Sedgwick and the lightshow The Exploding
Plastic Inevitable.

On June 3rd, 1968, Valerie Solanis, founder and sole member
of SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men), walked into Andy
Warhol's studio, The Factory, and shot him three times in the
chest. He was rushed to the hospital and doctors said he was
dead. Still, they decided to open up his chest and massaging
his heart - just in case. It did the trick and Andy Warhol
survived. Valerie turned herself in, was put in a mental
institute and was later given a three-year prison sentence.
After recovering, Andy continued to work. He started interVIEW
magazine and published The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From
A to B and Back Again. And though bullets didn't do him
in, his own gall bladder did. Andy Warhol died February 22,
1987 after routine gall bladder surgery. In May of 1994, The
Andy Warhol Museum opened in Pittsburgh.